“Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.”
-- Oprah Winfrey, entertainer, actress, author
Note: I have opted to remove the first paragraph from this post due to some folks finding it offensive. The paragraph in question dealt with some citizens, interviewed on the news, comparing attitudes in Baltimore and Ferguson to Mississippi and the deep south, and the offense some down here, both black and white, felt about this comparison. I have to admit, upon reflection, the paragraph was a tad confrontational.
I was very happy to hear the black community in Baltimore tell Al Sharpton and his ilk to stay away and not to throw gas on that fire. His kind has managed to set race relations in this country back fifty years, and to what end? The only people that suffer at the hands of folks like Sharpton are the minority home and business owners trying to get ahead in their own communities. Are things perfect? Is there the total equality we would all hope for? Not yet, and not for anybody. Will we ever realize the equality and end to poverty this country has worked so hard not to provide? I certainly hope so. But it will not come from a handout; it never has. It will come from the realization that the only way out is through belief in one's self; through hard work and faith in a better future. Nothing truly sustaining has ever come from self-pity and charity. Charity helps, but we cannot save the poor from their lot, this is a task only they can accomplish if it is to have any sustainability.
I was also happy to see the community in solidarity with the police and National Guard. It did our hearts well, to see the line of Baltimore residents standing in front of the police as their first line of defense against the morons burning down their own community. This is what should have happened in Ferguson, as well.
Peaceful protests and freedom of speech and opinion are part of our culture and guaranteed to every citizen. Whether riots are justified for Ferguson or Baltimore is to be decided in our court of law. I think that all violent rioting has ever accomplished is to diminish the cause and shift attention to the immaturity and ignorance being displayed.
As for the upstanding citizens of Baltimore, it seems obvious where God seemingly abandoned Ferguson to their own idiocy; God has been morally evident in the hearts and minds of the good people of Baltimore.
We, as a people, need to stop bemoaning what we don't have and wake up to the realization that we get what we work for. Stop asking for a handout and start looking for a hand. We need to stop crying racism when we see some, willing to work hard to change their situation, evidence that it is possible and that, perhaps, racism exists in our minds, and there it only serves to hold us all down and fan the flames of our own discontent. When it comes right down to it, the only racist seems to be the people crying racism. We really are our own worst enemy.
We here it more and more - if you don't like your situation, change it. If your elected officials aren't working out for you, elect better ones that will. If you have bad schools, work to better them, and if the children tear them down or don't appreciate the education being offered, admit it is the fault of a lack of parenting, of community and family values. Perhaps it is even a lack of faith in ourselves, and in our God. We need to provide a pathway out, for those willing to work toward it. In the end it would seem to be an individual's choice.
The people of Baltimore should be held up as an example of how people should confront those who would try to destroy their community. God is alive and well in Baltimore.
I was very happy to hear the black community in Baltimore tell Al Sharpton and his ilk to stay away and not to throw gas on that fire. His kind has managed to set race relations in this country back fifty years, and to what end? The only people that suffer at the hands of folks like Sharpton are the minority home and business owners trying to get ahead in their own communities. Are things perfect? Is there the total equality we would all hope for? Not yet, and not for anybody. Will we ever realize the equality and end to poverty this country has worked so hard not to provide? I certainly hope so. But it will not come from a handout; it never has. It will come from the realization that the only way out is through belief in one's self; through hard work and faith in a better future. Nothing truly sustaining has ever come from self-pity and charity. Charity helps, but we cannot save the poor from their lot, this is a task only they can accomplish if it is to have any sustainability.
I was also happy to see the community in solidarity with the police and National Guard. It did our hearts well, to see the line of Baltimore residents standing in front of the police as their first line of defense against the morons burning down their own community. This is what should have happened in Ferguson, as well.
Peaceful protests and freedom of speech and opinion are part of our culture and guaranteed to every citizen. Whether riots are justified for Ferguson or Baltimore is to be decided in our court of law. I think that all violent rioting has ever accomplished is to diminish the cause and shift attention to the immaturity and ignorance being displayed.
As for the upstanding citizens of Baltimore, it seems obvious where God seemingly abandoned Ferguson to their own idiocy; God has been morally evident in the hearts and minds of the good people of Baltimore.
We, as a people, need to stop bemoaning what we don't have and wake up to the realization that we get what we work for. Stop asking for a handout and start looking for a hand. We need to stop crying racism when we see some, willing to work hard to change their situation, evidence that it is possible and that, perhaps, racism exists in our minds, and there it only serves to hold us all down and fan the flames of our own discontent. When it comes right down to it, the only racist seems to be the people crying racism. We really are our own worst enemy.
We here it more and more - if you don't like your situation, change it. If your elected officials aren't working out for you, elect better ones that will. If you have bad schools, work to better them, and if the children tear them down or don't appreciate the education being offered, admit it is the fault of a lack of parenting, of community and family values. Perhaps it is even a lack of faith in ourselves, and in our God. We need to provide a pathway out, for those willing to work toward it. In the end it would seem to be an individual's choice.
The people of Baltimore should be held up as an example of how people should confront those who would try to destroy their community. God is alive and well in Baltimore.
“Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners”
-- Laurence Sterne (1713-1768), clergyman, author
Editor's Note
(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)
Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so.It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion and debate in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years as a military intelligence analyst, planner, and briefer, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.
We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.
Frank Anthony Villari (aka, Pastor Tony)
Pastor Tony is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path."
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